I know this is out of the blue and a bit grim, but I feel that there may not be much time left to say what needs to be said. So I’ll be blunt: due to the sudden announcement of the end of The World God Only Knows, taking into account mangaka Tamiki Wakaki’s history, and due to recent developments within the manga, I believe that Wakaki is at high risk of suicide. As someone who has attempted suicide myself, I know and have been briefed on the warning signs of suicidal intent. I know it might seem paranoid, but I don’t want to take the chance of anyone else going through such a thing.

I understand that this seems like a scare hoax or an overreaction. I’d actually like to ask him directly about these things. But I’ve seen a few warning signs and his history is one of constant struggle. Let me cite Wakaki’s history before giving specific examples from the series itself. The examples from within the series contain massive spoilers and are a bit gruesome, so I’m saving those for the end of this post. I apologize in advance.

TAMIKI WAKAKI’S HISTORY

Tamiki Wakaki graduated from Kyoto University in the early 90s, studying manga and submitting his first one-shot manga in 1993 at age 21. His reception was astounding and he immediately received the grand prize for the Shogakukan Manga Award. Those who granted him the award expected him to be a “rising new figure whose future 10 years are anticipated”. In other words, he was expected to be one of the next generation of manga greats.

In order to get into the manga industry. however, manga artists must get their work serialized in a dedicated magazine. There are a limited number of slots each magazine can fill, so whenever there are multiple candidates for a new slot (if there are any), the one with the most market appeal is the one that gets chosen. After a short period taking an assistant job under manga artist Takemura Yuuji (creator of “Master of the Seas”), he began making one-shots (which are like pilot episodes or treatments, an example for publishers to compare when deciding whether to sponsor a new series) starting with one called “First Touch”, making various attempts to get any of them serialized.

This continued for 13 years without any results. “First Touch”, “Captain Sweetheart”, “Coming to Japan! Brazil-kun”, “Galaxy-style Trial Teacher”, “Information Thief Group Albatross”, “The Scarlet Gem Phantom Thief Albatross”… none of his one-shots got any serialization from any magazine. And the entire time, he was considered a NEET. Then, in 2006, at age 34, he finally received a serialization for a series called “Holy Crystal Albatross”, based off of his older one-shot “Information Thief Group Albatross”. It began being published for around a year before being axed… because the magazine staff said that the serialization was a mistake to begin with. Somebody had checked the wrong box.

And so it got axed, with an abrupt ending due to executive decisions. I haven’t read it myself, but the plot involved something about collecting five crystals and the main characters had collected two before it got axed. Tamiki Wakaki made a blog post explaining what had happened, where his story’s foreshadowing was going, and how it had affected his life. He said “Now my bank balance is below 10,000 yen [about $100]. If I don’t get any sort of cash by next week, I can’t pay any public utility charges, and thus I’m going back to the stone age.” His alternatives were going into poverty-level conditions, going into debt, or canceling his preorder of Ninja Gaiden 2 to buy a little more time. He chose to go into debt.

Then, he stumbled upon a lucky note: he made a one-shot named “Koishite!? Kami-sama!!”, which revolved around a high-school-aged dating-sim master having to make real girls fall in love with him. Most people thought it was garbage, but the Internet and the otaku community fell in love with it. Since there was too much spare space in the magazine Shonen Sunday, they serialized it under the name “Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai”… or “The World God Only Knows”.

And the editing department couldn’t stand it. He has stated that he overheard some of the editors saying they should cancel it since it was nothing but wasted space. But slowly, it got recognition from the general community, and as it got off the ground it got more fans, more volumes, and eventually an anime. But now it’s coming to an abrupt end, and there are a few warning signs that Wakaki may be intending to commit suicide afterwards.

WARNING SIGNS

Two of these are spoilers and thus will be contained within spoiler tags. The first spoilered example is also a bit gruesome and is not for the faint of heart. I apologize in advance.

The World God Only Knows has gotten darker and darker over the past few years.

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Several characters have received nearly fatal injuries: Kanon/Apollo (backstabbed by Fiore), Haqua (stabbed by Lune), Nikaido-sensei (ripped by Lune’s cutter, which continued to slice and move around inside her body even after the initial cut), and Lune (impaled). Dokuro Skull actually died, and there were implications that Haqua was tortured during the Goddess Arc. (These implications were removed in the anime.)

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Based on the most recent chapter, Elsie, one of the most beloved characters in the franchise, is definitely going to die. All the death flag signs are there, with a “going out with a smile/smiling sacrifice” sort of flag (which is not a flag that usually gets reversed). For authors and artists, the characters they create are like their children, and killing them off is the last thing an author wants. But depression can change things: J.K. Rowling, for example, was considering killing off Ron due to her extreme depression at the time. (It’s also on the record that the Dementors in the Harry Potter series were meant to symbolize said depression).

- Authors usually voice themselves through their characters, and Wakaki has stated that Keima is basically based on himself. In a recent chapter of TWGOK, Keima revealed that he “wanted to end it all” during the Goddess Arc, which is a clear warning sign for suicidal intent. This may be Wakaki voicing himself through Keima.

- The series is ending within the next volume, even though the announcement was made less than two weeks ago. I think there are only a few chapters left, so that means it ends in about a month. Normally, there would be a much longer period of time between the announcement and the actual ending. Loose ends are getting wrapped up pretty abruptly, too. This leads me to the conclusion that either an executive decision was made to axe the series or that Wakaki suddenly decided to wrap it up as his final act before committing suicide.

FINAL NOTES

As someone who has been through depression and a near suicide attempt, the last thing I want is for someone else to go through the same thing. I identify a lot with Tamiki Wakaki; we both have been told about having so much potential, but have been plopped into a world where using that potential seems near impossible. He is my role model for being able to go through hell and back, and even if I cannot speak Japanese, there’s no way in hell I’m letting this go unnoticed. Please, let him know we care about him and want him to stick around, especially if you can speak Japanese! I will read whatever he puts out and will never stray from being a fan. That much is certain.

His Twitter handle is @angelfrench and his blog is at http://blog.wakakitamiki.coolblog.jp/. I don’t know of any other way to contact him, but please tell him to hang in there, especially if you speak Japanese! I’m very afraid and I don’t want anyone to go through the horrors of depression or suicide. Let him know you care!

Thank you for going out of your way to read this all the way. Please post any other warning signs, improvements, or Wakaki’s statements in the thread below.

Sudden End? Have you even read the recent parts of the manga? It was very clearly ending for over 30+ chapters. It's finishing it's softhearted parody of VN's in a way that any person who has read one knows. It started off with daily humor and moved into the more hardcore parts like a lot of VN's. It's not even close to abrupt, it could have easily ended after the goddess arc, but the last big arc explains everything in a way much like VN's.

Just watch Steins;Gate, it follows a very similar plot structure. You're overreacting.

i tell you this much if this show goes dark then I'm out been waiting on this to finish to see how it ends, but now i know not to even bother wasn't interested in the guy making so many girls fall for him just to have them forget him or him never be able to be with them. then all the crazy stuff happened i guess after that.

It seems that Haqua's arc has a reference to manga author's past. She was worried how she couldn't do well even if she was prodigy at school, but she just needed to believe that "it is alright" and that she needs to "start from the scratch".

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

Keima saved Dokuro from commiting suicide about three times. He also said that "Even I, the one sickest of the real world, am living. What a conceited girl!"

So I don't belevie Wakaki Tamiki considers suicide as an option.

(266 chapter spoiler)

Spoiler Alert! Click to show or hide

I am not sure if Elsie will die, but if she dies she might come back. She is demon after all and she already said she was reincarnated by Dokuro. Maybe she will come back as Keima child or... little sister?

Im pretty sure that he is fighting, he won't let things end like this. Just check this page from the manga, he wants to go on.
If anything as fans we should show full support should he decide to release a new series.